How we obtain a houseplant plays a big role in our feelings about it. If you picked up a prayer plant from the grocery store for $10, you won’t endure much loss. But if, like me, your first roommates gifted you a hoya that lived happily for 18 years while you got married, switched jobs, bought a house and had kids, you’ll feel anguish when one day the cat chews it to a nub. (Yes, naughty cat again.) After doing everything short of standing on your head and spinning around to revive it, you’ll have to admit it’s about the memories the plant represents, not the actual plant. Buy a replacement, and enjoy the symbolism.

What if you spent a bunch of money on a plant? Like ordered a rare orchid online with a hundred-dollar price tag? If it’s not doing well, you may kick yourself for impulse-buying. “The greater the amount of money you invest in the plant, the greater the heartbreak,” Martin says. “If I really want a plant and it’s beginning to not look great, what I often do is take a cutting or divide off a little section that’s still looking good and pot that separately.” If you can’t do that, chuck it and pretend the splurge never happened.

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